message from the head
Over six months have passed since I became the 10th head of the Department of Physics. In that time, I have attended more meetings, signed more forms, and answered more emails than in the whole of my 25 years as a professor of physics here. But I have also had the unique opportunity to learn about the ambitions and accomplishments of the talented faculty and staff that make up this great department. This experience has reinforced what I have long believed, that there is no better place to do physics and no warmer community in which to work than here in Urbana.
Much has already happened on my watch. This year we welcomed three new members into the faculty of the Department of Physics, two assistant professors in experimental biological physics, Yann Chemla from Berkeley and Ido Golding from Princeton, and senior professor Richard Weaver, who transferred into Physics from the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics following its merger with Mechanical Engineering. Four faculty members have retired, Enrico Gratton, Jim Wolfe, Myron Salamon, and Jeremiah Sullivan, who for six years served this department as head with skill and class. And we were also saddened by the loss of our colleague Vijay Pandharipande, who passed away in January 2006.
The faculty continues to gain well-deserved recognition in the research world. Just this year, two of our faculty, Laura Greene and David Ceperley were elected to the National Academy of Sciences; four, Mats Selen, Charles Gammie, Rob Leigh, and Scott Willenbrock, have been named Fellows of the American Physical Society; one, Paul Selvin, was named a University Scholar, and two of our young faculty, Nadya Mason and Smitha Vishveshwara, have received prestigious CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation. Several faculty have been awarded top international prizes: Paul Selvin, the Sackler Prize in Biological Physics; Taekjip Ha, the Bárány Prize in Biological Physics; and Ben Wandelt, the Bessel Award of the German Humboldt Foundation. Even our distinguished emeritus professors continued to be recognized for their contributions: Ralph Simmons having been awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Engineering and Ned Goldwasser’s receiving the “ Excellence in Physics Education Award” from the American Physical Society.
The Department of Physics and the University of Illinois are undergoing significant changes—in just the last year or two we have a new department head, a new dean in the College of Engineering, a new provost, a new chancellor, and a new president. We live in a new world—one that is rapidly changing and facing new threats to our economy and our security. All of this will bring new challenges and new opportunities and in turn requires and inspires new ideas. The campus has undergone an extensive strategic planning exercise and is focusing emerging programs into the challenges of information, sustainable energy, and human health care. At the same time, initiatives are underway to extend the impact of the University of Illinois on the international stage, by globalizing our research portfolio and launching a global online campus designed to educate a larger and more diverse student population. Such initiatives are not without costs and commitments by the already busy faculty, so the University is simultaneously undergoing an internal evaluation of its educational programs, research infrastructure, diversity profile, and financial model in order to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Physics has ambitious plans also. One of my goals as head is to re-establish the strong infrastructure and support for the research programs of the department that have always been a hallmark of our program. Initiatives to strengthen the technical facilities, nucleate an Institute for Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics, and partner with departments across the campus in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics) education are in motion. Physics has a broad wave function that extends into a wide range of interdisciplinary areas. We are committed to maintaining our core disciplinary strengths while expanding our impact via exploration at the intersections of physics and other fields across campus, including engineering, materials sciences, biological sciences, environmental sciences, medical sciences, nanoscience, and information technology.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the famous BCS paper on the theory of superconductivity, produced on this campus by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and J. Robert Schrieffer in 1957. This is arguably the single most significant academic achievement to ever come out of the University of Illinois, and we will honor it by holding a major international conference in Urbana this October, a great opportunity to celebrate work that exemplifies the impact that our department has and can have when we approach problems in the “Urbana style,” bringing strong theoretical and experimental expertise to bear on a single goal.
We are always appreciative of the interest and support from our Physics alumni and friends, and I hope that this Web site helps to give you a glimpse of the energy and quality of this remarkable Department of Physics. Our message of creativity and discovery that you help us spread and the generous contributions that you make to the Department continue to drive and enhance our programs as we move forward.
Dale J. Van Harlingen, Head and Professor
Department of Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
